


Following Orders

by DarthChocolate



Category: Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 03:09:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16054220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarthChocolate/pseuds/DarthChocolate
Summary: How did Rex, Gregor and Wolffe escape the Empire? This story takes place between Clones Wars and Star Wars Rebels





	Following Orders

“The hopping Gorg,” the other clone troopers in his unit snickered under their breath. Captain Jace had heard the nickname before in his previous unit. He had been transferred so many times. He was an independent thinker which was ironic for a clone. Sometimes, this meant a victory and praise for him. Other times, they labeled him a coward for refusing suicidal missions. No matter what other clone troopers called him, they were still his brethren.   
His unit just finished a successful assault against Separatists’ forces on Felucia. They flew back to reinforce General Secura and Commander Bly. The other troopers chatted as Captain Jace listen to the holonet military channels. A weird announcement came over all. Order 66 has been issued calling for the immediate execution of all Jedi on sight.  
No one could believe it. “Is that real?”  
“Can’t be,” Captain Jace responded. “They also reported all Separatists droids magically turned off. It’s a Separatists’ trick.”  
When they finally arrived at the rendezvous, he wished that he had been right.

Boil hated being in grumpy Captain Jace’s unit. The man always triple checked everything because he was never satisfied. Boil would have rather like to be assigned to General Secura’s unit. She was so brave and graceful. He imagined little Numa to be just like that as an adult. He heard the announcement on channel. He couldn’t wait to consult with General Secura about it. He kept looking for her while the other unit approached. He expected her in the front. They were dragging something along. It was big and blue. It must have been one of the native creatures. As they got closer, his heart sank at the sight of General Secura’s dead corpse. He was repulsed at how they yanked her across the dirt by her lekku. This would have been excruciating if she were still alive. He couldn’t fathom their insubordinate and callous action.  
“What’s going on? What are you doing?” a clone trooper cried out.  
They flung General Secura’s body on the ground. Her body was littered in holes from blaster shots. It made him sick. How could his clone brothers do that to her?  
Commander Bly stepped forward. “the Jedi order has proven themselves enemies to us. They tried to assassinate our new Emperor Palpatine. The order for the execution of all Jedi was given by the emperor personally. Anyone caught aiding a Jedi will also be executed.”  
“This is wrong. They’re our generals. They protect the Republic same as us.”  
Commander Bly shot the protesting trooper straight in his head. “Good soldiers follow orders.” He turned to Boil whose hands were shaking. “Don’t you agree?”  
Captain Jace quickly stepped forward. “I fear he has been infected with fungus spores.” He grabbed Boil’s arm. “I’ll take him to the med center.”  
“You’re trying to deceive us?” Commander Bly regarded him suspiciously.   
‘’Seriously?!” Captain Jace smirked. “Everyone knows how I feel about those pompous Jedi council jerks.”  
Boil often wondered how he kept his position with his public distain for the Jedi. Now, he knows the reason. Commander Bly permitted them to head to the medcenter. He was worried about what was going to happen to him there. However, they went to the landing pad instead. “Where are we going?”  
“Anywhere away from this nightmare. You saw Bly gun down his fellow trooper without hesitation.” Captain boarded the shuttle and took off. “I need you to search the logs for inhibitor chip shipments.”  
“Why?”  
“Did you feel pain when you tried to speak out against the murder of general?”  
“Yes, massive headache,” Boil’s head was still throbbing. “Aren’t those chips supposed to protect people?”  
“Apparently, they only protect the Empire’s interest.” Captain Jace started looking through the logs himself. “Don’t worry. I have a plan to get rid of your headache. If the droid can put in the chips, it can take them out. We are going to need some help.”

His men’s fingers were on the triggers of the blasters as Commander Wolffe quickly escaped. He couldn’t stomach that one of his boys had killed General Koon. Those lousy control chips were supposed to make soldier less aggressive. It was lie. General Skywalker and General Amersu were right about the chips enslaving the clone troopers. They told the Jedi Council that they should remove all the chips. The Jedi Council didn’t listen. Commander Wolffe wondered how many council members were still alive. Despite the council’s mandate, General Koon, General Skywalker, General Amersu and General Kenobi had their right-hand troopers’ chips removed. As of now, only four troopers, Commander Wolffe, Captain Rex, Commander Cody and Captain Jace were free. Once the war was over, General Koon was going to set all his men free regardless of regulations. He knew the general would have done this since General Koon had been like a father to them. He pushed his agony down as he focused on the task at hand. Commander Wolffe sent a brief message on general comm. It had frequency, the date of their chip removal, and a decoy title of “33 Refresher procedures.” Thankfully, they understood the message and connected him on the encrypted channel.  
“I’m gathering that we’re all in the same usual mess,” Rex darkly amused. “Surround by hostile forces.”  
“We need to regroup somewhere.” Cody proposal.  
Woffle informed them. “We can’t use military transports. They’ll be able track us.”  
“Civilian transports, probably smugglers,” Jace contemplated the problem. “We’ll need a lot of credits or something to barter with.”  
“I gave everything that I had to a friend, so she could escape.” Rex explained. “It’s safe for now, but I can’t move from here. They think I’m died. I don’t have much time before they close in on me.”  
“Can’t we just steal the credits?” Wolffe suggested.  
“They can track the transacts if we steal from military or civilians accounts.” Cody shot down the idea.  
“What if we take it from a secret account?” Rex’s eyes lit up. “When General Kenobi went undercover, the Jedi Order must have given him his own secret account.” He tuned to Cody. “Do you know the access codes?”  
“It won’t help. We need to get to military kiosk to use them. None of us are even near one.”  
“I can fly over to one if you give me the codes.” Jace volunteered.  
“I would, but I don’t trust you.” Cody accused him. “Everyone knows how much you hated the Jedi. How do we know that you’re not secretly working for the Empire?”  
“My general needed help instead the Jedi Council callously expelled her from the order. It’s true that I haven’t shed one tear over their death, but this Empire is killing every single Jedi. I heard they burned down the temple. Even if the Empire is telling the truth, nothing justifies them killing those innocent children who were never involved.”  
Wolffe measured his voice and expression. “I trust him.”  
Rex declared. “He is our best chance.”  
“Alright,” Cody conceded. “I will need your location to verify that it’s you and not a trap.”

On the planet Nez Peron, there is an Imperial base. In trooper Gregor’s opinion, the place seemed more like town with all the civilians running around. He sat on a medical bed waiting for approval to active duty. He was here because he blacked out when the command to open fire on the general was given. They took him to the base. The medicine that the med droid had given him didn’t work yet. The world seemed kind of off to him. Perhaps, the world was actually crazy with the whole kill Jedi order 66 thing, and he was perfectly fine. He had been hoping that the whole 66 order was byproduct of his mild brain damage. Sadly, the droid insisted that it wasn’t. It was a struggle for him to control his slight hysterical laughter. He had to control it. He was a soldier, and he would behave like one.  
Two clone troopers walked into his room with the medical droid. One of the troopers hotwired the droid. Once he was finished, it performed surgery on the other trooper. He rubbed his eyes. It didn’t help. The crazy thing was still happening. Now, the droid removed a tiny piece of metal from his head. The trooper was given a similar scar as his companion trooper. Gregor realized he had the same scar. He stared into a reflected surface at the scar.  
“Do you have the replacement inhibitor chip for 5576-39?” the droid asked.  
“No,” Jace pulled out his blaster and shot the droid. “No more slave chips. We need to move quickly.”  
Gregor mulled over his words. “Slave? My unit didn’t flinch when they shot the Jedi. I winked. The chips are like shock collars.”  
“Yes, I guess they are,” Jace was a little befuddled by him. “I’m Jace and this is Boil. Would you like to leave this place with us?”  
“Leave the bloodthirsty Jedi killers? Sounds good,” Gregor nodded his head. “How do you leave without a firing squad?”  
Jace headed to the door. “We steal some credits first. I’ll explain as we go.”  
“Sounds like suicide. You need explosives for suicide missions.” Gregor commented. They agreed and broke into the military weapon department. Gregor chuckled uncontrollably as he held the bombs. He became embarrassed by it.  
“Don’t feel ashamed. No one sane in this galaxy,” Jace responded while he gathered his supplies. “My general was tortured by the enemy. She was declared insane. They told me that I was sane for letting her leave like it was even my decision to make. They lied cause they’re mad too. We need to keep moving.” They went to the nearby storage department which surprisingly had more security systems. They were able to bypass them and get to the kiosk. “Boil, I need you to set those accounts for transfers. Gregor start placing the bombs around just in case there is a problem.”  
“There is a problem!” Boil panicked. “The one account was booby-trapped. We got a patrol heading our way now.”  
“How would they know?” Jace quickly scanned through the terminals.  
“That’s Cody authorization!” Boil got up. “Rex is going to hit the roof when he hears about this.”  
“You aren’t telling him about this. We have had enough betrayal for a lifetime. Now you two get out of here now. I’ll complete the mission.”  
“There is no time.”   
“You don’t leave a man behind.” Gregor seconded him.  
“For once, it’s my choice. NOW GO.” Jace continued working.  
Boil and Gregor bolted for the exit. They escaped. the squad of troopers rushed into the room a few minutes later. “Surrender!”  
Jace stood up. “Good soldiers follow the right orders.” He hit the detonator.   
They heard the explosion as they made their way to the civilian transport. Gregor stopped for a moment to look back. “Why try to be sane when the galaxy has gone mad?”

 

After so many narrow escapes and without any Jedi be his side, Rex’s odd of success felt like a billion to one. General Kenobi always kept warning about taking crazy chances. When he spotted Boil and Wolffe in the distance at the Starport lobby, he still had at least one more random chance. That was until he saw an unknown trooper with them. Rex placed a hand on his blaster.  
“Hey, it’s ok. Gregor is with us.” Boil pointed to the scar on his forehead.  
Rex rested his hand. “Where is Jace?”  
“He died so we could escape.” Boil gestured to himself and Gregor.  
“Anyone know what happen to Cody? He was supposed to meet us here.” Rex surveyed the area.  
“Cody, he…” Boil looked down his hand.  
“He got captured.” Gregor quickly added. “We heard it over the comm.”  
“At least, he is alive.” Rex focused on that fact. He trusted in his friend’s strength. “We’ll have to change our route.” He recommended according to military habit. He knew Cody would never tell.  
“I’m not going with you guys.” Everyone turned to Boil. “I’m going to Ryloth.”  
“That will be a hot zone for Imperial conflict.” Wolffe cautioned.   
“I know, but Waxer… We promised to return after the war. Numa will need her Nerra. They all will.”  
Rex put his hand on Boil’s shoulder. “I wish you well.” He had his mission to carry out. Maybe one day, Rex will receive his own cause to fight for.

**Author's Note:**

> For more information, go to https://aurora-light-blog.tumblr.com/


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